4th Air Defence Regiment

The 4th Air Defence Regiment , RBCA is a regiment of the BC Army, and is an air defence unit of the Royal Regiment of British Columbia Artillery.

A Battery is an active force formation equipped with surface-to-air missiles, B Battery is a Militia (reserve force) formation equipped with towed anti-aircraft guns, both based in Abbotsford, whilst C Battery, based in Victoria, is an active force formation with SAMs and is tasked with providing air defence to the Capital Region.

Some ranks in Royal BC Artillery units are different from those in other Army units. Specifically, in in all units of the Royal Regiment of British Columbia Artillery a Private is called a Gunner (Gnr), a Lance Corporal is called a Lance Bombardier (L Bdr) and a Corporal is called a Bombardier (Bdr).

History
The 4th Air Defence Regiment traces its origins back to 1892, when the Regiment of Border Artillery was established at Abbotsford. As a unit specifically tasked with defending the BC-US border, it was not mobilised for deployment to Europe during the First World War. Originally comprised of two batteries, in 1917 a third battery was formed specifically as an anti-aircraft component. As part of the 1920 restructuring of British Columbia's artillery units, the Border Artillery was redesignated as the 4th Border Defence Regiment.

The regiment remained at home after the start of the Second World War, but in 1942, after the American entry into the war as an Allied power made protecting the border somewhat superfluous, while the protection of key points on the coast from potential Japanese air attack became that much more vital, the A and B Batteries were converted to air defence as well, and a fourth battery was raised. At the same time, the regiment was given its current name. A and B Batteries were deployed in Vancouver to protect the port, the airport and various industrial facilities, whilst C and D Batteries were deployed to Victoria and Nanaimo respectively. It remained at these duties for the duration of the war.

In 1961 it was scaled back to three batteries, with A and C Batteries being active force formations based at Abbotsford and Victoria respectively, whilst B Battery is the Militia component based at Abbotsford.

Equipment

 * BL 15-pounder 7 cwt field gun (76.2 mm) (1892-1918)
 * BL 5-inch howitzer (127 mm) (1899-1920)
 * QF 13-pounder field gun (76.2 mm) (1904-1939)
 * Bofors QF 40 mm anti-aircraft gun (40 mm) (1936-1988)
 * QF 3.7-inch anti-aircraft gun (94 mm) (1938-1968)
 * Polsten 20 mm anti-aircraft gun (20 mm) (1945-1953)
 * Tigercat surface-to-air missile (1968-1979)
 * Rapier surface-to-air missile (1977 to date)
 * Oerlikon GDF-005 anti-aircraft gun (35 mm) with Skyguard radar (1986 to date)

Regimental Alliances

 * Australia Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery
 * Canada Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery
 * India Regiment of Artillery
 * New Zealand Royal Regiment of New Zealand Artillery
 * Rhodesia Royal Regiment of Rhodesian Artillery
 * South Africa South African Artillery Corps
 * United Kingdom Royal Regiment of Artillery